


Behind these Masks

by minorxn_021



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Freeform, Idiots in Love, hidden identities, it starts angsty but then continues to fluff, my first fic in a long time, universe altered
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-14
Updated: 2015-12-16
Packaged: 2018-05-06 14:57:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5421305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minorxn_021/pseuds/minorxn_021
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chat Noir decides to take a risk and confess his feelings for his Ladybug. He was aware that the outcome wasn’t going to be positive, but he didn’t think the rejection would affect him so much. Then there’s Marinette who’s so much alike his Ladybug, but at the same time she isn’t. Maybe Ladybug wouldn’t give Chat Noir a chance, but maybe Marinette will.</p><p>Marinette hates that she's hurting Chat Noir by rejecting him, but she can't return his feelings when she already loves someone else. For the first time, things are going in a good direction with Adrien and she doesn't want to mess things up. But then Chat Noir crashes into her life, and she discovers some feelings for the alley cat, feelings she didn't knew she had.</p><p>Hawkmoth is waiting in the shadows. His next big plan may result in a larger threat than anything Ladybug and Chat Noir had ever encountered.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> After watching Miraculous Ladybug, I got really inspired to write again, so I'm thanking the creators of the show for that.  
> I'm writing this for my own enjoyment and you're invited for the ride. I don't have a beta-reader, so please forgive me for any mistakes or misspelling.
> 
> Also, I'm marking this as AU because I'm writing this with my own headcanons in mind and I'm not sure how much they will differ from future chapters of the show. For example, in my version, Chat Noir is half human-half cat when he transforms (real cat ears, real tail, he can purr and hiss like a cat, etc.) So far, I got most of the chapters done so I will try to post as much as I can.

“Miraculous Ladybug!” The girl dressed in a red with black polka dots suit launched the coffeemaker above her, and with its cleansing magic, it changed back to normal all the damage the newly akumatized victim had done to the school. She could hear the cheers of her friends, and while she knew everyone was okay, it pained her to know that as long as she was around, they will always be in permanent danger.

She looked around to her right and she saw her feline partner, dressed in a black leather suit and with cat ears at top of his blonde hair. He was smiling smugly, obviously pleased that they managed to save the school once again. “Great teamwork, my Lady,” He raised up his fist and pointed it at her.

She smiled and bumped her fist with his. “Definitely, yeah. Thanks for helping me back there, by the way.”

“Of course, my Lady,” The boy grinned a Cheshire cat smile. “That’s why I’m here for, to always rescue my Lady when she needs me.”

At this, Ladybug rolled her eyes. No matter how much she would tell him to quit, Chat Noir always continued his flirting whenever they came across each other. It was quite flattering, really, but unwanted at times. She didn’t want him to get the wrong idea.

A second later, she heard the beeping sound coming from her earrings. Her Miraculous was about to run out of energy. Also, she spotted Alya looking for her in the crowd. She needed to leave fast. “I must go—”

“Wait! My Lady!” Chat Noir took her hand in his, keeping her at his side. “Maybe I speak to you for a moment? Privately?”

She didn’t know what was going on inside the cat’s head, but it should be serious, since he wasn’t smile, and he avoided her questioning glance. Her Miraculous gave another beep, and she knew she only had about ten minutes before she would transform back.

“Alright, but better be quick.” She nodded. She didn’t miss the sigh of relief that Chat released under his breath.

They both ran towards the nearest building (which wasn’t the school), and climbed above it. They ran from rooftop to rooftop as quick as they could, Ladybug using her yoyo as leverage to get her body higher and Chat Noir using his staff to keep up. They landed in an abandoned building almost at the outskirts of Paris. The surrounding area was fairly dark and quiet but Ladybug wasn’t afraid. The privacy was welcoming. Chat Noir landed beside her a few feet away and he pocketed his staff before looking at her.

“So tell me, Chat Noir, what was that you wanted to say?”

The black cat suddenly took a step backwards and she could see he was hesitating. This was a first for him, since for all the months they had known each other, Ladybug has never seen Chat Noir any less than confident and nonchalant. She could say that he even was a bit arrogant, but he had his heart and interests in the right place: helping Paris and saving the victims from the akumas. So this change in his behavior was unexpected. 

"Chat?”

“My Lady… I… There’s something I want to confess…” Chat’s ears were flat against his skull, and Ladybug thought he looked adorable, but quickly put that thought away.

“Just tell me, Chat.” She smiled at him, trying to encourage him. “We’re a team, remember? There’s nothing we can’t do together.”

At this Chat directed his bright green eyes towards her. He squared his shoulders and took a deep breath. “I guess I-I should stop s-stalling. I’m just going to say i-it. Right now, or I won’t have the nerve ever again.”

“I love you, Ladybug. I am irrevocably and ridiculously in love with you.”

There was another beep coming from her earrings, but she didn’t acknowledge it. She found herself unable to move. It was as if Chat Noir’s words had tied her up and frozen her in the spot. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be.

 _“Oh no…”_ She cried in her mind.

She didn’t have to tell him much, Chat Noir could read it from her expression. His tail and ears dropped dejectedly and he avoided looking at her. He felt tears prickling at his eyes, which he quickly cleaned away

“I-I’m very sorry, Chat, but—”

“No, it’s okay.” Chat replied, but his voice didn’t hold the same warmth and friendly tone. “I guess I read things the wrong way. It was my fault.”

“What do you mean, you read things the wrong way?” She asked.

At this, Chat blushed a pale pink. “Well, during the case with Dark Cupid, y-you k-kissed me… I don’t remember much of it honestly, but I know you did, and you’re always there to help me out. You get annoyed at me when I flirt, but you don’t seem really against it… Right, I’m an idiot.” Chat clenched his fists and turned away from her.

Ladybug didn’t have a certain idea how old Chat Noir was. She always assumed he was around her age or older. But right now, he looked like a helpless child, and she only wanted to hug him and wash away the miserable look on his face. But she knew she couldn’t. They were walking on broken glass now, and she had to advance carefully.

“Chat… That day I kissed you was because it was the only way I could break you from the spell. And like I said, we’re a team; we got each other’s back. The flirting, well, you never did stop, no matter how many times I told you to do so... Chat, look at me.”

Chat did turn around, but he didn’t meet her eyes. He looked over at her, with a faraway look. There was a dim glint in them. “But to break the hate spell, you needed love. Your love broke the spell, Ladybug…”

“Chat, please don’t do this to yourself.” She couldn’t help cry. “Of course I love you, but as a friend and my partner, maybe even as a brother if we were to get closer… But I can’t love you, not the way you want me to. I… I… I love someone else, Chat.”

At this, the cat’s ears perked up. “Someone else holds my lady’s affections?” He asked quietly.

She nodded. “Yes, Chat. I’m very sorry, but I can’t return your feelings.”

Suddenly, Chat Noir adopted a stiff pose and he hid away his façade behind a considerably calm demeanor. He showed her a big grin, even though the joy didn’t reach his eyes. His eyes were clouded with sadness and a hint of bitterness. “Oh, if that’s the case, then I hope this someone treats you right, my Lady. You don’t deserve any less than the proper treatment. If he hurts you, don’t hesitate to give me a call.”

 _“Marinette, you have three minutes before the Miraculous wears off!”_ She heard Tikki whispering in her mind.

Ladybug didn’t want to leave Chat Noir like this, she didn’t like that he was hiding his feelings from her.

“Don’t worry, my Lady, I also need to be leaving soon.” Chat took out his staff and wield it around him in a twirl. “Until next time!”

Before she could stop him, Chat jumped off the rooftop and climbed on to the next one. Quickly his body became a blur and his figure faded away, using the night as a camouflage. Ladybug grimaced. She knew she had hurt Chat Noir with her rejection deeply. Her only hope was that he could forgive her someday.

“If only he was Adrien, things would have been completely different.” Ladybug whispered to herself, and in two quick steps, she jumped off the rooftop as well, disappearing into the night.


	2. TWO

Adrien woke up the following morning wanting to throw himself off the balcony of his room. His alarm clock was ringing incessantly and with one single movement, he threw the clock against the wall, and broke it in tiny pieces.

“Someone seems in a sour mood today,” His kwami, Plagg, grunted. The kwami was hiding behind the couch at the other side of the room.

“Exactly, I’m not in the mood, Plagg. Plus I have a headache.” He didn’t voice out loud that the reason why he had a headache was because he cried himself to sleep last night.

Ladybug had rejected him. One of the few persons he cared about the most in the world had rejected him. He bared his heart out to her and all she knew to do was to tell him she loved someone else. At least she was honest and truthful. It was his own fault he got into this mess.

He knew there was a 99% chance that Ladybug would reject him. But there was that 1% that kept him hoping and holding on to faith. But now that he knew that there was in fact no chances at all, he felt awful for telling her and for making a fool of himself. Not to mention what this could mean for their partnership and the friendship they had. Also, he didn’t expect to feel like his heart had been nailed into stone. He knew the rejection would affect him, but not this much.

He didn’t have the energy to do anything. He had school, fencing class and Chinese lessons, plus a one-hour photoshoot tonight. Adrien was fairly tempted to call in sick, and let the world keep going on without him.

But he knew he couldn’t. His dad wasn’t very happy with him lately, not that he ever was. If he wanted to keep the limited freedom that he had and didn’t want to lose the few friends he managed to make, he must follow his dad’s impossible schedule for him, and with a big happy smile.

“I don’t know much about human relationships and feelings, I much prefer cheese than to get involve in that sort of thing, but I don’t like seeing my human sad, so please don’t be sad.” Plagg murmured.

Adrien’s lips quipped in a sad smile. “Don’t worry, Plagg. I’ll be alright. Ladybug is still my friend, and there’s still danger running about in Paris. Having the opportunity to fight alongside her is enough for me.”

“Great!” The kwami cheered. “Now, how about you get me some of that cheese, eh?”

Adrien rolled his eyes at Plagg’s insatiable hunger, and moved out of the bed to get the kwami his cheese, and to answer Natalie’s door knock.

“Today is going to be a long day.” Adrien sighed.

[…]

“Marinette, if you don’t hurry up, you’re going to be late!” Tikki almost barked in her ear.

“Whaa… Oh my god!” Marinette woke up from her deep slumber with a screech and ungracefully fell off the bed, hitting her head against the floor boards.

“Marinette? Are you okay?” She heard her mum calling.

“Yeah, I’m alright!” She yelled back, patting the back of her head and wincing slightly.

“I’m sorry, Marinette, I didn’t mean to startle you.” Tikki bowed her head, not looking at her human in shame.

“Don’t worry, Tikki. Thanks for waking me up.” Marinette smiled. “I’m really late! I must get going!”

The dark-haired girl stood up from the floor and headed towards the bathroom adjacent to her room. As she closed the door behind her, the first thing she did was look at her expression in the mirror. Her hair was a mess, and she had dark circles under her eyes. She also seemed paler than usual.

“I look awful, Tikki.” She whispered.

The kwami appeared beside her. “You didn’t sleep well, did you?”

“No. I couldn’t stop thinking about Chat Noir. He seemed so upset yesterday, and I hate to know I was the one who hurt him.”

“It would have been worse to lie to him, Marinette.”

“I know, Tikki. And I don’t think I could’ve, anyways. But as much as he’s an annoying and mischievous kitty, he doesn’t deserve to be hurt. I don’t know him very well, but I know Chat Noir must be a great person under the mask. I also don’t want this to affect our partnership

Tikki looked at her with woeful eyes as Marinette brushed her teeth and fix her hair into her two trademark ponytails. The little ladybug knew that her human had a kind and huge heart, and didn’t stand to see anybody suffering; that’s one of the reason why she chose her after all. But sometimes, you have to hurt someone to be true to yourself.

“I have a question, Tikki,” Marinette asked suddenly, turning to face the little ladybug. “It’s about Hawkmoth and his Akumas.”

“What is it?”

“The akumas only take control of people when they are experiencing a negative feeling, like sadness, fear, greed, jealousy…Then they are under Hawkmoth’s mind control, until the Miraculous cleanses the akuma of evil and they are free of his control.”

“Yeah, that’s the gist of it.”

“There isn’t any way to protect yourself from the akumas, is there?”

Tikki caught on the direction Marinette was heading. She was worried that an akuma could take control of the cat boy. Tikki smiled at her human.

“The only way you can protect yourself from an akuma’s control is by having a kwami at your side. Besides giving your abilities and luck, be it bad or good, a kwami is entrusted to protect the human they choose from any exterior influences, like mind control for example.”

“But wait!” Marinette raised at hand. “What about the time with Dark Cupid? Chat Noir was definitely under mind control!”

Tikki nodded. “That’s because Chat Noir was using his kwami’s powers. Us kwami can’t do two tasks, in this case provide our powers to humans and protect them for outside forces, at the same time. We get tired too, you know.”

Marinette scratched the back of her head. “Sorry, it was confusing.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong, Marinette. It was a simple question.” Tikki smiled. “And to answer the question you still haven’t asked, if Chat Noir’s kwami knows what they’re doing and dedicate themselves to their human, Chat isn’t in danger of being mind control by the akumas.”

“Do you know Chat Noir’s kwami?” Marinette inquired as she dressed up quickly and grabbed her schoolbag.

“We have met,” Marinette didn’t miss the grimace the little ladybug did. “Like I told you; just like there has been a Ladybug ever since the beginning of time, there has been also a Chat Noir. I’ve encountered the kwami a few times. Though I don’t know who the human he’s serving now is.”

“At least I know Chat is safe from Hawkmoth’s control. He might not be the most pleasant boy I know, but he’s a great friend.”

“Of course he isn’t the most pleasant boy. That position belongs to Adrien, right?” The little ladybug chuckled.

“Tikki!” Marinette blushing furiously as she walked towards the kitchen, where her parents were located.

Marinette had a light breakfast with her parents, before she left for school. She still had ten minutes before her first class started so she started running to the building. As she ran, she thought deeply about what the ladybug had told her. Chat Noir was safe from the mind control of the akumas, but he wasn’t safe from the heartbreak she was sure he was feeling. It made her feel horrible and she only wanted to console him. But she couldn’t fake her feelings as much as she wanted. She was irrevocably and ridiculously in love as well, but with another boy altogether.

Adrien Agreste, who was currently standing in front of the school with Nino at his side. They seem to be talking about something, well, Nino was doing most of the talking, but Adrien was listening very closely. He would smile a few times, and even chuckled at him. But even from where she was standing, she could hear the hollowness of his voice and see the melancholy in his beautiful green eyes. As much as he tried to hide it, Adrien was miserable, and it was probably because he was in a public space that he wasn’t falling apart. Marinette’s heart ached for him, and she wish she could approach him and ask him what was wrong.

She also tried to ignore the familiar sensation she got in her chest. A part of her was sure she had seen such sadness before, but it was impossible. Adrien rarely show his feelings like this.

Suddenly, she heard the school’s bells ringing and both Nino and Adrien walked inside. Marinette followed, a sigh escaping under her breath.


	3. THREE

“Hey girl!” Alya greeted Marinette with a huge smile, as the dark-haired girl sat beside the blogger. They gave each other a quick hug.

“Where were you last night? I tried calling, but as usual you didn’t answer. You totally missed Ladybug yesterday! A guy who called him Monsieur Kernel was transforming people into popcorn! Only because we weren’t quiet during movie night!”

“That sounds terrifying,” Marinette avoided Alya’s eyes, afraid that she might reveal anything. “But besides that, how was movie night?” The school’s film club had started this event where once a month it was movie night. Marinette had really wanted to go, but Monsieur Kernel didn’t give her many options.

Alya smirked and gave a quick glance towards a familiar boy wearing glasses and with headphones around his neck. Nino had his back towards them since he was still talking with Adrien. Alya had admitted to herself a few weeks ago that she had a crush on the DJ boy, and unlike Marinette and her crush, she was actually making some progress.

“We saw Jurassic World, and we sat next to each other!” Alya almost squealed. “We made a few jokes during the movie, and I swear he was about to hold my hand when that popcorn guy appeared!” The girl sighed. “At least is a small step, right?”

“Believe me, you’re having more progress than I do at the moment.” Marinette dropped her head into her hands. She stole a quick glance towards Adrien, whose smile was turning more into a scowl. He did seem to be in a bad mood.

“You should go and tell him good morning!” Alya suggested.

“What! You’re crazy!” Marinette’s eyes widened.

“Just follow my lead, okay?” Alya winked at her. Out of nowhere, she took out one of her notebooks and ripped a few pages from it, turning into paper balls. She stood up, with a confidence that Marinette both admired and envied, and walked towards the boys, who were standing next to the classroom’s trash can.

“Good morning, guys!” She greeted happily, and with a wink that was obviously directed at Nino.

The boy in question blushed slightly and stammered his reply. Adrien simply said “Morning”, and left it at that.

Alya returned to her seat with a victorious smirk. Marinette was gaping at her, not believe what just happened.

“You want me to do that? Even the wink?” Marinette fumbled with her hands.

“Well, maybe it’s too much to ask you for a wink.” Alya took hold of Mari’s hand and dropped a paper ball in them. “Just go there, say good morning and walk back. The point of this exercise is to let Adrien see you. Especially since you look so cute today.”

“I’m not sure, Alya, what if I do something wrong?”

“What could go wrong?” Alya scoffed.

Marinette looked down at the paper in her hands, and the two boys still talking next to the trash can. She closed her eyes and tried to channel all her courage that she has when she becomes Ladybug. With a decisive nod, she stood from her seat, pointedly ignoring Alya who grinning at her smugly.

The walk from her seat to the trash can seemed like light years away. With every heavy step she approached the duo, the paper in her hands as heavy as a stone. She of course didn’t notice that her shoelaces were untied. And as she got closer to them, it was as if she was heading towards her doom.

Suddenly, Adrien looked up at her, and they made eye contact for a brief second. His eyes were still as sad as they were twenty minutes ago in front of the school. She didn’t know what pulled her in, all she knew was that she started running towards them, towards Adrien.

She was Marinette though. Only two steps away from her crush and she tripped over her shoelaces, heading towards the floor. She tried to grab on to something, and that something was Adrien’s shoulder, so he fell to the floor as well. His head though, hit the trash can behind him, and all its content was spilled above them. Cold coffee spilled over Marinette’s hair and Adrien’s shirt was stained with what seemed to be grape soda.

Everyone in the classroom was staring at them. Alya did a face-palm. Nino was laughing his sides off.

Marinette was mortified. One thing was to make a fool of yourself in front of your crush. Another thing was to make your crush look like a fool.

She heard a groan below her, and she looked down to see anger flashing in Adrien’s green eyes.

“Get off me,” He snapped, coldly.

She did, as quickly as she could. She opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came from it. Adrien stood up from the floor as well, but he didn’t look as kind and gentle as he did a few minutes ago. He looked down to the stains on his shirt and sighed loudly.

“My father’s going to kill me.”

“I-I’m… I-I’m…” She stammered.

Adrien then look at her. And it was the iciest expression she had ever seen on his face. They might not talk much, but Adrien’s eyes were always kind when he looked at her. It was one of the things she liked most about him. But the kindness in his eyes was gone, and in its place was a really bitter look.

“You can’t even apologize, can you?” Adrien spoke sharply. “I was already having a bad day, but this is definitely the top of the iceberg.”

“A-Adri-Adrien, I-I’m…”

Adrien shook his head. “You can’t do anything right, can you?”

The words strike at her like a whip, ripping her heart apart. Her eyes were filling up with tears, and she could sense a shift in the classroom, but she was unable to move.

“Dude, calm down, it was just an accident.” Nino said beside her, and she could sense the disapproval in his voice.

“She should be more careful,” Adrien hissed.

“What happened here?!” The screech of their teacher startled her. The woman started complaining about kids messing around and sent out two of her classmates to find a janitor. Then the teacher both told Adrien and her to go wash the dirt and the stains off.

Marinette ran from the classroom, ignoring Alya’s call. Only a set of words was revolving in her head. And they were absolutely true; she can’t do anything right.

[…]

“Dude, what is wrong with you? Why did you talk to Marinette like that?” Nino asked the blonde when it was finally lunch break and everyone was heading outside. Nino didn’t miss how rude Adrien was to their classmate and friend, and he still couldn’t believe it actually happened.

To his defense, Adrien was also feeling very ashamed of his actions. Yeah, Marinette was a bit clumsy and it was annoying how she could never form a completely sentence when they were speaking to each other, but she was a sweet and kind girl who didn’t deserve anything that he said. He should’ve just accepted her apology and walked away. He groaned at his idiocy internally.

“I’m just having a bad day alright? I didn’t sleep well, and my father is being impossible. I didn’t mean to be rude.”

“Well, guess what, pretty boy? You were an absolute jerk to my best friend and now you’re going to pay!” Out of nowhere, Alya came running towards them, with a look that screamed murder.

Nino and Adrien promptly backed away, but there wasn’t any place to hide.

“How could you? Marinette seems about to start crying at any second now, and it’s all your fault! Just because you are having a bad day doesn’t mean you have the right to ruin someone else’s day!”

“Alya, I’m very sorry,” Adrien tried to calm down the feisty brunette, but to no avail.

“It’s not me you should say sorry! Apologize to Marinette! You hurt her feelings, and if I were her, I wouldn’t forgive you so easily!”

And with that said, Alya turned around and walked away, not even giving Nino a glance, who looked as upset as a kicked puppy.

“Great, now Alya is angry at me!” Nino stumped his feet.

“Why would she?” Adrien asked.

“How could I know? They are girls! If you mess with one, you mess with the lot of them!” Nino took out his bubbles tube. “But it’s true what she said. Marinette wasn’t at fault here and you should apologize.”

“I know, I—” Adrien’s words were lost as he saw his car approaching, with his driver on the front, and Natalie on the back seat. He sighed. “I can’t right now. I’m really busy. I’ll apologize some other time soon, I promise.”

With a last wave, Adrien climbed into the car, sitting beside Natalie. When Natalie started talking about his lesson plan, he sighed for the umpteenth time that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, angsty chapter, I'm sorry. Please don't hate me. It gets better, I promise!


	4. FOUR

It turns out that luck seemed to have run out when it came to these two. Because for exactly a month, neither Ladybug nor Chat Noir saw each other, and neither Adrien nor Marinette found a moment to talk.

For a whole month, there weren’t any akuma victims around in Paris. It was worrying for both Ladybug and Chat Noir. They knew Hawkmoth, where ever he was, hadn’t giving up on getting their Miraculouses. They really didn’t know why the man was laying low but both Ladybug and Chat Noir agreed that now more than ever they should keep their eyes on every corner of the city.

Their communication was limited to the comunicators on Chat Noir’s staff and on Ladybug’s hand mirror. Ladybug devise a plan where they would each patrol one side of the city every night, and changing locations every now and then. So since because there were no akumas and patrolling separately gave them a better chance to cover more area, a whole month passed without seeing each other.

Chat Noir had troubles deciding how to feel about this. In one hand he was upset than he didn’t get to see his Lady, but in the other hand every time he thought about the last time they were together, his heart would clench and the sting wouldn’t leave. It didn’t affect him as much as it did during the first week, and now it was just an uncomfortable feeling, but it was still there. He never thought he would say this, but Adrien was glad that his father gave him so much work. It was the only way he could keep from thinking about Ladybug.

With Marinette things were different. He still saw her five out of seven days a week, although she did her best to become invisible any time he was nearby. She obviously was avoiding him and ignoring him, and Adrien couldn’t blame her. He had been a right jerk. There had been moments where he tried to approach her and apologize, but either she would run away, or his time would run out. His bad luck was definitely catching up with him.

And Plagg, well, Plagg was happy as long as he had cheese by his side.

Adrien chuckled as he watched Plagg trying to eat a piece of Camembert cheese larger than his head by swallowing it whole.

“C’mon, buddy, time to go.” He held the little kitty and placed it safely inside his school bag.

[…]

Marinette was having the worst month of her life.

Well, it was an exaggeration, but it hasn’t been a good month for her. Her alternative life as Ladybug was on low, since there hasn’t been any reports of akumas causing mayhem in Paris. Normally, that would be a cause to celebrate, but she knew her battle with Hawkmoth was far from over, no matter how much the man was hiding. She doubted he would give up attaining the Miraculous so easily, so it was quite possible that he was planning something, or at least that what Tikki thought.

As Ladybug, it was Marinette’s duty to protect the city and the civilians. She now did double rounds, one in the mornings before leaving for school and one at late at night. She also had to juggle between school, homework and helping out at the bakery. Her mum had been sick with the flu for days, and it was left to her and her father to keep the business running. She didn’t mind any of it though, it kept her mind off things.

Like a certain blonde, for example.

Marinette couldn’t remember much of what happened after the incident, as she called it inside her head. She knew she cried at lot; her tiny heart couldn’t deal with the fact that Adrien had lash out at her. Alya could barely comfort her and her best friend constantly threw death glare towards the model’s direction. Marinette was grateful for Alya’s concern, but she didn’t want to let things get out of hands. She had been in the wrong, she shouldn’t have run towards Adrien. What did she plan to do? Hold him while he told her why he was hurt? As if. They weren’t friends, merely classmates who only spoke to each other a handful of times. And she even managed to ruin that tiny connection between them.

So she decided to stop. She tore all Adrien Agreste posters from her walls, threw away every single picture and deleted every file under the folder “Adrien Agreste: My Future Husband” in her PC. She was going to be sixteen soon. This celebrity crush she had on her classmate had to stop.

Alya was confused and a bit angry with her because of this. She also cursed Adrien to the seven pits of hell for being a humongous jerk and hurting Marinette.

“I can’t believe I thought he was the perfect guy for you.”

“Look on the bright side, now I have the time to obsess over something else.” Marinette told her.

And she did. She got more involved in her class president duties, she put more effort in her designs and in her drawings, she learned how to bake delicious cupcakes from her father, and Paris was safe and sound, for now.

Strangely, she never got to see Chat Noir around this time either. Apparently he took his patrol duties very seriously. He would usually joined her during the nights, disregarding the area he was supposed to cover. Well, he did before she rejected him.

She could accept him keeping his distance. But much to her surprise, she missed him. She missed Chat Noir’s banter and terrible puns, and just seeing his carefree smile. They were partners in crime fighting, but he was also one of her closest friends, right after Alya. She knew she could count on him no matter what. It pained her to know that she hurt him enough to pull him away from her.

“Marinette!” Her mother called. “If you don’t hurry, you’re going to be late!”

“C’mon Tikki!” Marinette took her kwami in her hands, and headed downstairs.

[…]

Ignoring Adrien Agreste was easier said than done, since he knew exactly how to claim everyone’s attention. His clothes looked amazing on him, and his hair was unruly thanks to the wind, giving him a wilder look. Some girls who weren’t in Marinette’s class and whom couldn’t yet get over the fact it was really Adrien Agreste that attend their school sighed whenever he passed by.

_“Same, girls, same.”_ Marinette confessed to herself. It was hard to convince Alya that she wasn’t crushing on Adrien anymore, and she had to watch her actions around said boy careful. Alya was like a hawk whenever she wanted information; she would scavenge into every corner until she found what she needed. That wasn’t applied to Ladybug’s secret identity though. Alya was closer to finding the secret to time travel that finding Ladybug’s civilian persona.

It was their last class of the day, history, and Marinette was ready to leave. History wasn’t her favorite subject, she much prefer art class or even literature. The teacher was going on and on about the French Revolution, and Marinette’s head hurt a lot.

She noticed from the corner of her eye that Nino was trying to get Alya’s attention. Now that she thought about it, their relationship seem to be on the ice too. It didn’t seem to be affecting Alya that much though. She did catch Nino’s wishful glances towards her friend from time to time, and Marinette didn’t understand why Alya wasn’t more excited about this fact.

“I don’t know if you notice, but Nino is trying to catch your attention.”

“He is. I’m ignoring him though.” Was Alya’s reply.

“But why? I thought you liked Nino.”

“But Nino’s friends with the enemy!” The brunette whispered furiously.

“What?”

“He’s friends with pretty boy over there, and weren’t we avoiding him?”

Marinette felt a wave of warmth towards her friend, but she also felt the need to bang Alya’s head against the table for her stupidity.

“Alya, just because I’m not in speaking terms with Adrien, doesn’t mean that you can’t speak to him, or his friends for that matter. If you want to talk with Nino, then just do it.”

“Quiet girls!” The teacher screeched from across the room.

“Sorry!” They both said at unison.

Alya looked over at Marinette with cheerful eyes and a grateful smile. “I was being a bit of an idiot, wasn’t I?” Marinette nodded. She was pleased to see Alya waving and giving a saucy wink at her crush. Nino, who didn’t expect this sort of reaction, flushed scarlet and turned around in her seat. Both girls giggled.

“Okay class, that’s all for today.” Marinette cheered in her mind. “Now, I’m going to let you know who’s your partner for the special assignment.”

Ah, the special assignment. Marinette had forgotten about that.

“Miss, why can’t we choose our own partners?!” Chloe whined as she always did. “Adrien and I were planning to do the special assignment together!”

Marinette fought hard to keep a stoic face as her blood began to boil. Adrien was staring at the blonde girl as if she had grown a second head, so she was thankful for small mercies.

“I never said I wanted to do the assignment with you.” Adrien told her politely. “Nino is already my partner.”

“But Adrien~!” Chloe’s shrill voice sounded like sharp nails scratching down the chalkboard. Marinette winced.

“Quiet!” The teacher shouted again. “I’ve chosen your partners because this will give you an opportunity to work with someone you haven’t worked with before. If you have serious complaints about your partner, then I guess I can abide some changes, but only if they are serious.”

Chloe sat back in her seat with a scowl. What all Marinette wished was that Chloe wasn’t picked as her partner. Anybody but Chloe.

“Alyx, you will be working with Nathaniel. Mylene, you will be working with Ivan. Rose, you will be working with—”

Marinette tuned out after that. She was more interested in what would the subject of her project be. It had to be about an important figure from France, and their contribution to the development of the country. There were a lot of names at the top of her head—

“Marinette are you even listening?”

“No, sorry, what was that?”

“You partner for the special assignment is Adrien.”

“WHAT”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter for you, my lovelies. Now I can say it's moving forward to the interesting bit :) Is it okay if I were to ask for a few comments? Do you like it, do you hate it, it is too cliche, too confusing, too badly written? Let me know


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